Spike in false alarm call outs

Spike in false alarm call outs

THE number of false alarms attended by the Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service has reached its highest level in five years, with thousands of incidents recorded.

The Fire Brigades Union says false alarms use up resources and increase response times to real emergencies, but that “it is always better to be safe than sorry.”

Home Office figures show the Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service responded to 6,992 callouts in 2018-19 which proved to be false alarms, including 203 fake calls made to the service.

This was the highest number for five years – and 366 more than in 2017-18.

Two thirds were made following callouts by firefighting apparatus

29 per cent were calls made in good faith, where the caller believed that an incident was an emergency requiring the fire service.

Dorset and Wiltshire fire service area manager Andy Cole said: “The Service never knowingly attends a false alarm, we attend emergencies that have been reported to us via a 999 call.

“Where it later becomes clear that the incident was a false alarm, then we will always look to see whether there are ways of preventing similar call-outs in future.

“This can include the work done by our Protection teams in giving advice to businesses on how to reduce the risk of unwanted fire signals, or the education work undertaken by our Prevention teams.

“However, if someone believes there is a fire or another issue requiring our immediate assistance, they should always call 999 – we would rather attend a false alarm than not attend a genuine emergency.”

Matt Wrack, FBU general secretary, said: "False alarms, including malicious alarms, use up resources which could be better served elsewhere and increase response times to actual emergencies. But it is always better to be safe than sorry, and fire services should always be called when any alarm is raised. The latest Government figures confirm what firefighters are feeling on the ground – they are under increasing pressure, responding to more incidents with scarcer resources, as budgets and firefighters continue to be cut."

In Dorset and Wiltshire, officers spent at least 1,650 hours at the scene of false alarms last year. Most incidents were attended by a crew of between four and nine people.

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